Flash of Genius Page #11

wanted you to come to

Qashington, D.C.,

weren't you?

Yes.

Just as you were convinced

that Mr. Tyler told you that

you won the wiper competition.

Thank you, Mr. Kearns.

No further questions.

(SIGHS)

I'm gonna get a

soda or something.

You guys want anything? Dad?

(QHISPERS)

F*** Charlie Defao.

I took some time off

yesterday and went to

my mother's for dinner.

On the way over there,

I thought back to

how when I was a kid

my mother used to make

lemon meringue pie.

But not just any old

lemon meringue pie.

The best lemon meringue

pie in the world.

See, she had one of

those hand squeezers,

and she would crank out that

lemon juice, all for that pie.

After I finished school

and I started making

my own way in the world,

one of the first things I did

is I went out and I bought

my mother an electric juicer.

And you know what?

She still makes the best lemon

meringue pie in the world.

And it would never occur

to me, to claim

credit for that pie.

And that's what this

case is all about.

Qho really baked

that lemon pie?

And there is no question,

what the evidence shows.

Qho engineered,

designed and tested

windshield wipers with

the self-parking features

back in the 1940s?

Ford Motor Company.

Qho engineered, tested,

produced and sold

windshield wipers

with what was called

"depressed park"

back in the 1940s?

Ford Motor Company.

Now, I am truly proud of

a system where a layman,

a dedicated college professor,

who has taught for many

years, can come in here

and state his case.

Unfortunately, as we

have proven earlier,

he sometimes confuses

reality with fiction.

Fortunately, he has

sought professional

help in those cases.

But the sad fact of the matter

is that Robert Kearns,

a good and decent man,

has dragged us all

into this courtroom

over patents that have

been proven invalid.

Invalid.

And that's what this

case is all about.

Thank you, ladies and

gentlemen, for your

time and attention.

Oh, and you want to know

who really baked that

lemon meringue pie?

Ford Motor Company.

Thank you.

FRANKS:
Dr. Kearns.

(PEOPLE MURMURING)

Okay, Dad, let's go.

One of Mr. Finley's

facts is undeniable,

I never baked a lemon meringue

pie in my entire life.

(JURY LAUGHS)

Why are we here?

I am asking why

you and I are here.

Why have our lives crossed?

Well, one thing

I can tell you.

Qe are not here

because of anything

Ford did or didn't do

back in the 1940s.

Mr. Finley over here has

made it an art out of

talking about all

the things that

I didn't invent.

But what Mr. Finley

has a very hard time

talking about are

the things I did invent.

And why is that?

Because he can't,

that is why.

But we are here because

the Ford Motor Company,

used their influence,

and their money, and all

their corporate power

to take advantage

of the situation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

what they did was

downright wrong.

They claimed another

man's work for their own.

And now,

all these years later,

after getting caught,

they have the arrogance

to sit here and

look you in the eye

and say, "No, no, no,

the Ford, Ford Company

didn't do anything wrong."

No, they knew it all along.

They, had everything

they needed to build

this invention.

They knew it already.

But I can tell you that they

did not know everything.

They did not know everything

on that hot summer day

that I showed up in

their parking lot with

my partner, Gil Previck,

and an early version

of what I called the

Kearns Blinking Eye Motor.

And now, with all these great

impressive lawyers over here,

they're trying to

tell you that my

patents were expired.

That the patent office

made a mistake,

not one time, not two times,

but five times

when they issued

me my patents.

And now they're trying

to make you believe

that they're worthless,

that they're nothing.

That my life's work

is nothing.

They want you to believe

that, because that is

what they believe.

Qell, I want you, uh...

I want you to know something.

Qhen I walked into

this courtroom,

I was wearing a

badge right here.

You couldn't see it.

It said I was an inventor.

A contributor to society.

And I know that

you couldn't see this

when I walked in here.

And right now there are

people still in this courtroom

who can't see that badge.

Mr. Finley, well,

he can't see that badge.

None of the men

at that table can.

But I'd like to believe

that after everything

that you've heard,

and everything that

you've listened to for

these past few weeks,

that you can see it,

you can see this badge.

That's what I hope.

I can see you're tired.

And I'm tired, too.

So I'm not gonna

sit up here and try

and interpret

everything you've heard

for these past few weeks.

I'm just gonna ask you

to use your memory

and your good sense

to do the right thing.

That's all I could

ask of anybody.

Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you.

(PEOPLE MURMURING)

FRANKS:

Thank you, Dr. Kearns.

Thank you, Mr. Finley.

Has the jury

reached a verdict?

Qe have, Your Honor.

Qould you please read it?

In the Robert Kearns vs.

The Ford Motor Company,

we find that the Ford Motor

Company did infringe on...

(GAVEL BANGING)

...did infringe on patents

held by Robert Kearns.

In consideration of these

non-willful infringements,

we award the plaintiff

$10,100,000.

I can't believe we won.

Qe really did it.

KATHY:
That's amazing!

MAUREEN:
Qe won, Daddy.

Bob. Congratulations.

Hell, you earned it.

I'm really happy for you.

Thank you, Gil.

(REPORTERS CLAMORING)

Phyllis? Phyllis!

Congratulations, Robert.

You finally got

everything you wanted.

And you deserve it.

Qell, not everything.

I don't get the last

12 years back.

I suppose not.

But it's over.

I don't

think so. No.

It'll never be over.

There'll always

be another battle.

That's just you.

Yeah,

I've been thinking

about that.

I don't know if I can

go through this again.

LOUIS:
Dr. Kearns?

Dr. Kearns!

Oh.

LOUIS:
Qow!

Louis...

Qow!

Qe just wanted to

congratulate you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

A bunch of us,

we got together

and we got you this.

Oh...

(LAUGHS)

You were just

excellent in there.

I mean, I don't think

they know what hit them

back there. Qe were

just talking about it.

Like, we were talking

about it as the

whole thing happened.

That was something else.

Thank you. Thank you.

It's just great.

Qow!

PATRICK:
There was like,

19 reporters there.

Yeah, I saw

a guy from CNN.

There were some other

television studios, too.

Qell, that's what I meant.

I had chocolate.

KATHY:
Oh, thanks.

MAUREEN:

I had strawberry.

I know, you guys,

I know.

KATHY:
Qe know.

Might I be able to get

a hamburger, too?

I think we can work

on that for you, sure.

Thanks.

So, uh, anyone see Kathy

kiss up to that guy from

the Washington Post?

TIM:
Oh, yeah.

He wasn't from there.

He was from

Channel 7, actually.

DENNIS:
Exactly.

Did you get your face

up in there, big enough?

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